Destined to be Free
by Lammy Leonhart
Summary: UPDATE: Uploaded Chapter 10. The Posse's return, but with a member missing their leader. Will Balamb Garden save their wayward Sorceress' Knight who's unwillingly thrown into the Banryu conspiracy? Read and review...
1. Prologue

****

Prologue

It was snowing. The flakes that have rested upon the ground of the earth transformed the once green landscape into a winter wonderland. Well, sort of.

Squall's breath came out in cold gasps as he watched the monster retaliated against his attacks. The giant sea-lion-like monster stared at him grimly as it whipped its tail towards its human foe. Squall managed to dodge to the other side just as he felt the spikes swung past where his head was a few seconds ago.

The creature was slow, but its strength was not to be underestimated. Squall whispered some words, and Flare erupted around the creature. It roared with surprise and shuddered as heat enveloped its entire snow-crusted body. Seizing his chance, Squall went forward for the kill with an uppercut slash from the right, and the Snow Lion screamed its death-cry before collapsing into a charred heap in front of the young SeeD. He swung his Gunblade over his shoulder casually.

_Guess training's over. _The sky was a light gray, with the sun peeking shyly behind a huge cloud. The drizzle of snow has started to thicken. If he did not go back soon, the others might worry about him. Especially Rinoa.

Turning to go, he took one last look at the pine forest behind him when he saw shadows lurking behind the trees. He readied himself in his battle stance, waiting for whatever it is to pounce upon him.

Two glowing red eyes appeared. Its fangs bared, the creature rushed with thundering thuds towards Squall, roaring as he heard the monster's jaws snapped.

Squall stood there calmly as he summoned a GF. 

_Cactuar, I summon you._ He waited for the feeling of being transported and the light emerging within him as it always did wherever he summon.

A few seconds past. Nothing happen. No light, no feeling. The T-Rexaur was coming nearer any minute now. Squall could feel the earth beneath him shaking. He summoned again, but the green-guy with flying needles still did not appear. A slight wave of worry hit him. 

Something was wrong. He had never had problem with summoning before.

At last, the T-Rexaur emerged. It stared down at Squall with its red glowing eyes. It snapped its jaws again and roared at the human in front of him. However, Squall was not gonna budge an inch nor become the T-Rexaur's meal without giving a fight.

Squall's Lionheart started to blaze with energy. The living fossil stared intently at the weapon. Squall started to unleash his Limit Break he had save earlier.

He did his seven-strike combo, never missing a shot as the barrage of attacks overwhelmed the T-Rexaur. Once his trigger technique finished, Squall dished out his Limit Break, sending the creature flying into the air as he slashed 15 times at lighting speed before sending the monster the final uppercut slash of his moves in a blinding arc. The momentum of the attack sent the beast down onto the snow-covered land, where it collapsed in a bloody mess.

Squall landed perfectly beside the monster he had slain without breaking a sweat. Thank Hyne for his Lionheart. Otherwise, he would be the monster's snack in one bite.

As the SeeD trudged through the thick snow towards the waiting Balamb Garden, he could not help wondering back at the battle at where the summoning part had gone wrong.  
_How can it be? I thought I had Cactuar junctioned to me. Or did I give it to Rinoa?_

Just then, he stepped onto something hard and cold beneath him. Curious, he looked down and saw something glinting. He knelt down and scooped the thing up.

It was a Griever.

The find did not surprised Squall. He bet out there, people might have the same necklace as he had. But his heart told him otherwise. And sometimes, his intuition was always true.

Suddenly, the pendant was broken in two. Now that was something he had not anticipated. A corner of a yellow paper peeked out in the middle. Eyes narrowed, Squall took the pendant apart, and saw a folded sheet in the middle of one of the hollow pendant. He pulled the paper out, and read the words written in red:

__

GRIEVER SHALL BE FREE

TO SALVAGE THE FREEDOM

OF ALL GUARDIAN FORCES

HUMANS SHALL DIE.


	2. Chapter 1: No GF, No Magic

****

Chapter 1: No GF, No Magic

"This is definitely strange," said Rinoa as she fingered the find that Squall had discovered in his training at Trabia. She was seating on Squall's bed in his room, and Squall was leaning against the door lazily with his arms folded. The piece of yellowed paper lay on his table innocently.

"I mean, why would anyone, or any GF for that matter, want freedom? Don't they _already_ have their own…freedom?"

"…………………." Squall shook his head. Rinoa took that as 'I don't know'.

"And Griever…I thought it was killed back at Ultimecia's Castle?"

Silence met her. She saw Squall nodded his head. She take that as 'I know'.

"But the last line puzzles me…why should all humans die?"

She watched Squall's expression. He shook his head.

"And you said about being unable to summon your GF. Could this two things have a connection?"

This time, Squall cocked his head in askance. 'Maybe'.

Rinoa sighed. Oh boy, she could read Squall's 'silent language' now, and a master at it. She could not stand the silence any longer. She needed some response if Squall wanted her to solve this puzzling find.

"Squall! Say something!"

Squall laughed and sat down next to her. "Sorry, angel." He kissed her on her cheek. "Thought you could figure everything out. But you did, anyway."

Rinoa smiled at him and continued. "So…how come you couldn't summon?"

She watched him shrugged. "I thought the GF might have been junctioned to you or somebody else, but it seems nobody had it." He paused as he thought it over. "Otherwise it would have answer my call." Rinoa watched him frowned.

"Have you tried summoning the others?"

"Quezacotl and Cerberus?" replied Squall, and shook his head.

"But if you can't summon this GF, could the other GFs be affected?" asked Rinoa.

Squall's blue-gray eyes slowly widened as it dawned upon him, as though her question had strike home. "Do you think…?"

"I think we better try it out. In case."

"We have to call the others." Rinoa watched Squall walked to his table and pressed a button on his telephone. "Nida."

"Hello, Commander Squall. Your command?" Nida's voice warmly greeted him.

"Tell Quistis, Zell, Selphie and Irvine to meet me…" He looked at Rinoa.

"…At the Training Centre," she supplied. 

"…At the Training Centre," Squall repeated.

"Roger." The line was closed. Seconds later, they could hear Nida's voice over the intercom throughout the academy.

"Let's go," Squall said and grabbed the paper on his table. Rinoa pocketed the pendants, and they both left the room.

Outside the window, a blue translucent lady with two blond tails breathed a sigh and disappeared into a blizzard of snow.

* * *

"Okay, what is going on?" asked Zell the first thing he sighted the two.

"We have a problem," Squall said.

"What problem that our Commander here can't solved?" 

"Guardian Forces," said Rinoa.

"Oh, if you mean the memory loss-"

"Zell." Rinoa shook her head, indicating him to stop.

"Sorry we're late," said Quistis as she reached them. Irvine and Selphie followed behind her.

"It's alright. We just came. Now that everyone is here…" Squall started to tell them about his findings and why they were here in the Training Centre. He showed them the message on the piece of paper, and Rinoa revealed the pendant where it was found.

"So, I want you guys to try to summon a GF. Any GF."

"No problem. Watch me summon Ifrit!" Zell said and his eyes closed in deep concentration. A few seconds passed. Nothing happened. The air in the Training Center grew still except for the constant shuffling of the wild creatures that inhabited the place.

Surprised, Zell said, "That can't be. Let me summon again." He did, and still, the flaming firedog did not appear with its usual roar. Zell looked around and called, "Oy, Ifrit! Where are you?"

"Let me summon Diablos," said Quistis. She got into her summoning stance, and closed her eyes in deep concentration. Not a single light stirred within her. The Dark Messenger did not arrive.

"Booyaka! Maybe mine can! I summon you, Siren!" A bolt of light danced about Selphie. She beamed happily. "Yeah! Mine works!" However, no sooner had she said those words, the light died out as fast as it had come. Her eyes furrowed with confusion. "Hey…that can't be…"

Irvine said, "I've haven't got any GF junctioned. Gave mine over to Selphie." Everyone now looked at the last person who had not summoned yet: Rinoa.

"Let me summon mine then," said Rinoa. "I shall summon…Leviathan!" She silently summoned, and waited for the green water-dragon to appear. No light, no feeling. Nothing. Like the rest of them. It was just as what Squall had said.

It seemed everyone could not summon a GF. Even the one they are most compatible with. 

"I'll try to summon again." Squall silently summoned his most trusted GF, Quezacotl. He knew this GF would always answer him. Cactuar and Quezacotl were his two most compatible GFs, besides Cerberus. 

A rumble of thunder. Squall waited to disappear and let the Thunderbird take his place. But nothing happen. Squall let out a tired sigh. 

It was as if the GFs were refusing to appear. They were not answering their calls of summon.

"Maybe we need to fight a monster, then only it will appear?" asked Rinoa hopefully.

"Well…the whole time we're here, not a single monster had attacked us," said Irvine as he looked around. "Now that I've said it, the Centre seems pretty deserted to me."

"Maybe not. Look behind you," said Squall, bringing out his Lionheart. Rinoa was already armed with her Rising Sun. The rest looked behind them to find a towering T-Rexaur glaring down at them, its saliva dropping onto the ground in puddles. It started growling menacingly.

"Yowza! Don't think of sneaking up upon me!" Zell said and got into his battle stance.

"Now we can try to summon. Everyone, summon!" called Rinoa.

Everyone did. Nothing happened again. Only the T-Rexaur was getting impatient as it looked down upon the six humans beneath it. It snapped its jaws and roared. Typical T-Rexaur behavior.

"This is bad," murmured Rinoa.

"Wait!" Irvine who was silent all this while suddenly spoke up. "If we can't summon a single GF, how are we gonna use magic?"

A dreaded silence hung in the air. Even the T-Rexaur was not roaring. It was watching everyone and sniffing the air, thinking which one might be its next afternoon snack.

"Then…we can't use magic," Squall said.

"But if we can't use magic, how are we gonna fight?!" asked Zell.

"We shall have to depend on our weapons."

"But our weapons are junctioned with magic using the GF's abilities," said Quistis. "So, if we can't use GF _and_ magic…"

"Our weapon will also be useless to us," finished Irvine. He cracked a grin at Quistis. "I'm beginning to understand our dear Quistis." He felt a jab of a wooden nunchaku at his side. "Uh…maybe not…"

"Irvine is right," said Rinoa. "In this case…"

"Just FIGHT!" said Zell, and he charged forward and started hammering at the monster's thick hind legs.

"Take that! Hah! And this!" The creature swung its reptilian head down at Zell, who was oblivious of the monster's waiting jaws inches behind him. Zell was still punching away at the T-Rexaur's thick armor-like hide. The T-Rexaur opened its jaws, revealing razor-sharp teeth waiting to tear Zell into pieces.

"Zell! Watch out!" Selphie stepped forward and hit the T-Rexaur's head with a sharp thwack from her Strange Vision. The monster reared up with surprise and swung its powerful tail at Zell, which sent him flying into Selphie. Taken unaware, the both of them collapsed into a painful heap near Irvine.

"Ouch! Zell! Get off me!" Zell rolled away and slowly got up, massaging his arm and swearing at the giant lizard. Irvine and Quistis quickly helped Selphie up just as the T-Rexaur started to bear down upon them. 

"RUN!" Squall ran in front of them and quickly slashed upwards at the monster, causing it to scream with pain and retreated a few steps back as Selphie, Quistis and Irvine made for a safe spot with Zell and Rinoa. The creature recovered from the surprise attack and snarled at the humans.

"Everyone in formation!' called Squall. He went forward in the middle as the leader. Beside him, stood Zell and Quistis. Behind him, Rinoa aimed her blaster-edge with Selphie and Irvine. The T-Rexaur growled at them.

"Let's battle!" shouted Zell. The six of them started attacking the monster with their weapons (in the case of Zell, he tried pounding the creature's leg again), and after half an hour of fighting and switching formations, the T-Rexaur finally fled, overwhelmed by the SeeDs' barrage of fierce attacks and various Limit Breaks.

By that time, everyone was exhausted, their breaths heavy in the air. Zell and Selphie collapsed onto the ground, wiping their wearied brows. 

"Is everyone alright?" asked Squall. Quistis, Irvine and Selphie nodded. He saw Rinoa gave Zell a Potion, and he swallowed the entire thing in one gulp. He handed back the empty vial back to Rinoa.

"Darn…creature…" swore Zell, massaging his slightly bruised arm. "I'll get you back someday when I can summon. You just wait…"

"Looks like this GF business is not a small matter," said Irvine as he kept his Exeter in its holster. "I can't believe we can't kill that thing within a few minutes, like we all used to."

"For a normal T-Rexaur, we could have taken it out within one summon," added Quistis. "But now look what happen."

A few minutes of silence past.

"We have to report this to Headmaster Cid," Rinoa said finally. Squall nodded tiredly.

"Fine…everyone, break for ten, then we meet at Headmaster Cid's office." Everyone agreed, and turned to leave, except Rinoa. She could not help but gave one last glance behind. She felt as if someone was watching them.

"Squall, is there anyone else in the Centre?" she asked.

"I don't think so. Why?" Squall's face grew concerned. Rinoa just smiled and said, "Then I guess it's nothing. Come, the others have left." Then, hand in hand, the two of them slowly followed the rest behind.

Just then, a green snake-like creature slithered out of its hiding place from behind a thick bush where it had watched the entire scenario. It reared up its serpent head and stared at its mistress' retreating back before transforming into its watery self and disappearing into a ball of yellow light, crying an echo of words.

"_Humans…I pity them."_

~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Thanks to all who have reviewed this fic!

Nenya

CTHKSI

Maria Rose Black

I'll try my best to update soon, and this fic might just turn out to be a Squinoa, depending on the reader's reviews. Or a surprise Seiftis? Wait 'til next chapter. *grins*


	3. Chapter 2: Scenario Again

****

Chapter 2: Scenario Again

__

Twenty minutes later…

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Matron," Squall said through gritted teeth. _How many times have these people ask me the same question?_

"This should not and must not happen," said Cid as he frowned over the matter.

_I KNOW. But it's happening._

Everyone was gathered in the office of Headmaster Cid after ten minutes, all refreshed and restored their energy. While they were there, Matron Edea happened to stop by and they in turn look for her help as well.

__

"Although this had not happen before, its consequences are bad enough to affect everyone. Including the whole world," said Matron.

"Oh no, not this save-the-world-from-evil-forces-scenario again?" said Zell in an exasperated tone. Everyone looked at him. "First is the Sorceress War, and now-"

"Zell, shut up." Squall's words had immediate effect. Zell kept quiet and held his hands up in surrender.

"Should we seek Dr. Odine's help at Esthar?" asked Matron.

"Doc Odine?" chirped Zell, forgetting Squall's orders in a moment. "That short, funny scientist with that weird accent? You've got to be kidding me." He started mimicking the scientist's words. "_Thiz iz not funny_."

"Zell, this IS not funny," said Quistis, folding her arms as she cast an annoyed glare at Zell.

"I doubt that he should not fail to meet your expectations, Zell. Just because he dress funny and talks differently does not mean that he might know anything about this. He might have more information than you think," said Matron.

"So you mean we have to go to Esthar," said Squall.

"But it'll take days to reach there," said Rinoa.

"Unless we go through the Great Salt Lake by FH," said Irvine. He broke into a grin. "The route me and my Selphie discovered." Selphie beamed at him.

"You guys got any faster and easier way? We can't deal with monsters without magic and GF," said Zell. "You saw how long we took to fight that T-Rexaur."

Everyone pondered over it. Zell's words made sense. For the first time.

"Why don't we use the Ragnarok?" suggested Rinoa.

"The Ragnarok is being used for the SeeD Field Exams at Trabia," said Headmaster Cid. "But I think it should be back by two days later."

"Two days?!" Everyone exclaimed, except Squall. He just shrugged and said, "We've got no other options. The Ragnarok is the fastest way to go to Esthar." 

"What about the students?" asked Quistis. "I don't think we should let them in about this. We don't want to create chaos within the Garden when they found out they could not use GFs and magic."

"I will give a prohibition notice, stating that no GFs and magic are to be used temporarily," said Cid. "Until we solve this, all students are quarantined within the Garden's grounds and not any further."

"What about you all?" asked Matron to the group. "You have to prepare yourselves as well."

"First, we need some rest," said Zell. He stretched his hands tiredly. "And food."

"Zell, is food always in your mind all the time?" said Selphie as she shook her head. Zell just grinned sheepishly.

"And we'd better stock up on some potions. Some remedies as well," said Quistis. "We don't want to let the same thing today to happen to us the day after tomorrow."

"Better load up on some ammo, too," said Irvine. He patted his Exeter in its holster. "We all need to get prepared for the journey."

Seeing this, Cid turned to Squall. "Squall, you know what to do." Everyone looked at him expectantly.

Squall shrugged and said, "Fine. We will go to Esthar by Ragnarok. 0800 hours, we meet at the Entrance, two days from now. Don't be late."

"Yes, Commander!"

* * *

Two hours later…

"Did you hear about it?" spoke a young SeeD cadet to his friend.

"That no-summoning notice? I know!" chirped the girl.

"It's ridiculous. How are we gonna fight?" said another cadet.

"We are not even allowed outside Garden. We have to stay in Garden, and that's that," spoke the first one.

"We cannot use magic too. I wonder what is going on," said the third cadet. He looked around before saying in a low tone, "I bet it has something to do with that fire-dog. Heard that he had enough of students hitting him with Shiva every time. " 

"Ifrit? You mean you check out the cave? Cool!" said the girl. The table grew silent and the sounds of cutlery was heard as the three students quickly resumed to eating when they saw Squall silently strode past by their table.

"Squall!" Rinoa called upon seeing him. She waved at him. "Over here!" He saw her, and silently sat down next to her. In front of him, Irvine and Quistis were in a deep conversation. Zell was too busy pigging out to notice Squall's arrival.

"You were telling us that Ifrit was missing?" asked Irvine, his hand draped over Selphie's shoulders. "But how could it be?"

"I caught some students loitering outside the Entrance minutes after Headmaster Cid's announcement," said Quistis, sipping her cup of coffee. "Apparently their friend went to the Fire Cavern to practice his shooting skills, but when I went there, he was waiting outside the cave, complaining that the Garden Master refused his entry."

"Luckily the Garden Master stopped him in time, you know," said Selphie, gesturing in an animated way. "Otherwise he'll know what's going on and _kaboom_, chaos in Garden." She nodded knowingly. "Those kids are like that, right Squall?" 

"Yeah…whatever." Selphie and Rinoa looked at each other. When Squall's in his 'whatever' mood, it'll be useless trying to get any positive answers out from him.

"Squall…you okay?" asked Rinoa.

"Sorry…a lot's on my mind now," he said. His face broke into a small smile. Rinoa felt a bit relieved.

"So…did anyone of you heard any weird noises in the Training Centre while we were leaving earlier?" asked Rinoa.

"Nope. Nothing." Zell grabbed a hot dog in one hand and gobbled it up in two mouthfuls.

"You mean the soft cries of words?" asked Quistis. "And I thought I was the one hallucinating it."

"You mean the one that goes, 'Quistis…Quistis…" Irvine started making ghostly sounds. " 'I am coming….' " He yelled in surprise just as a sharp jab land in his left ribs. "Ow! Selphie!"

"Watch it cowboy, I might be the next one to haunt you," warned Selphie, and the rest started laughing. Well, besides Squall, who was brooding silently as he tried to piece all that had been happening together.

"Squall?" Rinoa said, waving her hands in front of him, breaking his train of thoughts. He blinked and looked at her. "What?"

"I was asking, whether you'd heard anything strange in the Training Centre," Rinoa repeated.

"You mean the one which goes, 'Something-Man, I pity-something'?" asked Irvine.

"I think it went, 'Humans…I pity-something," said Quistis.

" '_Humans…I pity them_'," Squall mouthed the words. Four pairs of bewildered eyes landed on him. Squall's blue-grey eyes blinked in confusion. "Isn't that what you all wanted to know?"

"Yeah…but…still…" Irvine struggled to state his point. "Oh, forget it. But what has this got to do with all these strange happenings?"

"I wonder," said Rinoa, cupping her head in her hands on the table. She looked up through the glass dome above her, watching the fluffy white clouds float past by.

_Let's hope nothing bad happens_. She looked down at Squall, whose eyes were narrowed with frustration. She laid her hand on his, and Squall gently held her hands in his, reassuring her that everything was alright. Rinoa sighed silently.

_I had a bad feeling that something bad is gonna happen. And we will all not like it..._

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Another boring chapter…boring yet crucial for the upcoming ones…let's just hope this fic stays on. This fic is on the verge of being taken down and destroyed into smithereens of pixels if no one's gonna read it. I mean, what's the point of posting if no one wants to read??? 

  
That's it. Enough rambling. More action next chapter, Chapter 3: Uninvited Guest Above-Board.


	4. Chapter 3: Uninvited Guest AboveBoard

****

Chapter 3: Uninvited Guest Above-Board

"Is everyone onboard?" asked Selphie. Irvine looked behind and counted the rest. Quistis was talking with Zell, Rinoa was admiring the scene outside the Ragnarok, and Squall was standing next to her with an arm around her.

"Yeap, everybody's here. Off we go to Esthar!"

"Right on!" Selphie said with a thrill. She flipped some switches, and the Ragnarok rumbled to life. "Ragnarok, takeoff!"

The Ragnarok began to lift off into the air. Below, they could see two figures waving at them, which were Headmaster Cid and Matron Edea. The longer the Ragnarok flew, the smaller they got until they disappeared beneath the clouds.

"Squall! Are you ready?" Selphie turned to Squall.

"Yeah."

"Okay, here we go!"

The Ragnarok lurched to the side and started moving forward towards their destination, Esthar. In the cockpit, everyone could see the blanket of clouds laid out before them like a cotton sea. Although it was morning, they could see the huge moon beaming down from the sky on their left, and the glowing fireball of a sun on their right. The Ragnarok skimmed smoothly above the clouds, sending ripples of it into some astonished birds that were flying at that high altitude.

"How long before we reach Esthar?" asked Squall.

"Mmm…about one hour," replied Selphie as she pulled the control lever forward. "We're going at maximum speed."

"Cool! I could see Balamb!" said Rinoa, pointing down at a small green island with a small mountain. Ragnarok passed by the island in seconds. "And Timber!"

"Now, now, aren't we getting a little animated here?" quipped Irvine.

"No…not until, WOAH! Hey guys! Take a look at this!"

"What is it, Selphie? Woah…," mumbled Irvine under his breath, leaning forward in front.

"What's the matter, Irvine, Selphie?" Quistis had gotten up and walking towards them. "I don't see…oh, my…"

"What? What? What's going on?" asked Zell. Everyone had gathered at Selphie's place and looking out of the windscreen. Everyone was shocked and awed.

Outside of the windscreen, in front of them, flew a serpent-like dragon with a pair of thin, fragile wings flapping slowly as it slithered in the air. Its reddish-gold body glistened brightly beneath the sun, and its fiery tail swished here and there in motion with its flight. As it reared its golden horned head back at them, it blinked its ruby-red eyes and bared its razor-sharp teeth.

"Mr. Dragon does not like us," Selphie said as she slowly maneuvered the Ragnarok to the side. The dragon turned back to the front and followed suit.

"A new dragon species?" wondered Quistis aloud.

"It can't be. Let me Scan 'em," said Zell. Then he thought it over. "Oh wait…we can't. We can't do magic without GFs."

The dragon now faced them at the side of the windscreen as it slowed a bit. It roared at them.

"Why do these monsters enjoyed roaring at us?!" asked Zell.

"Because they wanted to ATTACK us!" Selphie yelled as the Ragnarok suddenly shook violently as a huge fireball scorched the windscreen. Just as the smoke cleared, she saw the dragon released another huge fireball towards the cockpit.

"AHH! Incoming fireball!" Selphie quickly brought the Ragnarok higher just as the flaming ball shot inches below the cockpit. It disappeared into the clouds, burning a hole where it had bore through, with smoke trailing along its path.

"Selphie! Control!" called Zell as he clung onto the backseat of Selphie.

"Sorry! Is everyone alright?" 

"Everyone's fine. You have to get us to Esthar quickly now," Squall said. Selphie nodded gravely. She had to get rid of the dragon somehow; or else, everyone aboard the Ragnarok will be in danger. Her grip on the control lever grew tighter. She did the only thing she could think of.

"Hang on everybody!"

She pulled the control lever, and the Ragnarok suddenly ascended higher than ever into the air. Fortunately, the Ragnarok was built with reinforced steel using the high technology of Esthar; otherwise, the strong air pressure at the altitude they were flying would have crushed the entire cockpit.

However, the dragon did not find it a problem; it ascended even higher than the Ragnarok. It flew higher, and they could no longer see it.

"Where could it have flown?" Selphie asked as she looked for it.

Then they heard the dragon's loud cry above them.

"Above!" said Irvine. The Ragnarok started to rock roughly again. Everyone heard a heavy thud above their heads. Then a wrenching sound as something sharp embedded itself onto the airship. They heard the dragon roared again.

"Don't tell me that dragon clung onto the top of the Ragnarok!?" said Zell. "We can't let fly all the way to Esthar with that thing on us!"

Squall thought of the only thing to do: fight the dragon.

"We have to fight the dragon," said Quistis, as if she had read Squall's mind. This did not surprise Squall. He knew Quistis could _always_ read his mind, although he had always wondered how she could do so. He saw her smile at him. "That's what you were thinking, weren't you, Squall?"

He nodded. 

"What!? Go up into the open air and fight that thing? No way!" said Zell. "Besides, we can't do any magic, so…"

"Then we rely on our weapons." He looked at his comrades. He started to come up with a plan to get rid of the dragon. "Selphie, slow down the Ragnarok and descend lower."

"Roger!" The Ragnarok started to descend slowly until it was just above the clouds. The dragon above her screamed again.

"I'll need a group to fight the dragon."

"Count me out," said Zell. "I'd rather fight where I'm near the ground. Besides, I can't summon anything nor do any magic. The dragon will made me his snack in one bite."

"Then stay here!" Selphie chirped from the pilot's seat. "Don't worry, I can take care of him!"

"Selphie…" Zell hung his head down. "Oh fine…whatever…" Zell joined Selphie at the pilot's seat.

"No objections from the rest?" asked Squall.

"Since it's a battle in the air, we can only bring a few people up," said Quistis.

_This means I can bring only two people along again,_ though Squall. He looked from Rinoa's hopeful face to Quistis' determined one to Irvine's casual self. He thought for a few moments before coming to a decision.

"I'll need Irvine to shoot at the dragon as distraction, while me and Quistis will do the rest." Squall turned to Rinoa. "I'm sorry I can't bring you."

"Why?!" Rinoa cried.

"It's too dangerous!" Squall said.

"But…"

"Please, Rinoa…listen to me." Squall held her shoulders firmly. Her pleading brown eyes bored into his. "You have to stay here." He saw her shook her head. He sighed and tried again. 

"Rinoa, I'll be right back as soon as I can…I promise." Seeing this, Rinoa finally consented to his wish and slowly nodded. He gave her one last hug before turning to Quistis and Irvine who were waiting at the door. "Let's go."

* * *

The red hatch slid opened. Squall's brown bangs peeked up from beneath as he slowly climbed out of the hatch. The screeching wind brushed into him roughly as he crouched as low as he could to the slowing airship. He helped to bring Quistis up, and Irvine climbed out next, tugging his cowboy hat close on his head to keep it from flying away.

In front of them, the golden dragon had dug its claws into the airship's exterior, leaving holes the size of huge boulders. Its fire-lit tail swished back and forth, its lavender wings neatly folded as it swung its golden horned head at them. It blinked it ruby-red eyes and screamed at them.

Squall calmly brandished out his Lionheart. The weapon glowed in an intense white-blue, and he braced himself for the attack. Quistis whipped out her Save the Queen, and whipped sharply onto the metal surface, indicating she was ready. Irvine took the center formation as he casually eyed the dragon that now reared its head up, bearing down upon them with contempt.

"You ready?" Quistis asked. Irvine nodded and took a step forward.

"Let's get started!" Irvine called. With that, he swiftly whipped out his Exeter and started unloading rounds after rounds of ammunition towards the dragon, gunshots ringing loudly in the air. The whizzing bullets struck its head, but bounced back and dropped uselessly onto the airship before rolling away into the clouds beneath in waste. The dragon watched Irvine lazily, its red forked tongue slithering slyly in and out, mocking Irvine. This provoked the cowboy.

"You wanna play? I'll show you who you're toying with!" He emptied his Exeter and loaded glowing news ones in an instant. Then he stared firing away at the dragon, which started to cry in rage and agony as every bullet struck home. The dragon instinctively covered itself with its lavender wings, but the rounds of shells continued to rain through its thick, leathery wings, as though it were nothing. An ear-splitting shriek rang in the air as it swung its head here and there, dark red blood oozing down its left eye.

"Bingo," muttered Irvine softly as he blew the white smoke emitting from his Exeter. Nobody ever taunts Irvine Kinneas without escaping his Shot of Pulse Ammos.

"Irvine…" Quistis shook her head and went forward for the next assault. 

She started lashing out fiercely, hitting every part of the dragon's thick hide wherever she could. Enraged, the dragon suddenly stretched out its bullet-riddle wings at Quistis, only a few seconds late as she expertly jumped aside to evade its attack. But she did not see the incoming whip-like fire-tail homing in from behind her.

"Quistis! Look out!" Irvine's voice rang out. Quistis turned back in surprise just as Squall grabbed her from behind and pulled the two of them down. The both of them fell down onto the hot, metal surface of the airship's roof, the dragon's tail missing them by a few inches.

"You alright?" Squall's voice came as Quistis looked up into his concerned, gray-blue eyes. She slowly nodded and Squall stood back up. He laid a hand on her shoulder and said, "It's best you stayed with Irvine. Let me finish this."

"But Squall-LOOK OUT!" Before he knew it, the dragon had expanded its wings once more and sent Squall flying into the air and slamming onto the roof's surface with a few heavy thuds away from her. His Gunblade spun in the air a few times before landing with a loud CHINK embedded in the metal exterior next to him.

"Squall!" she cried, standing back up just as the Ragnarok shook violently once more. The momentum sent Quistis onto the edge and she watched with horror as she started to slide off the airship.

She was going to fall.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ooh…the evil cliffhanger. *grins* I don't go around writing cliffhangers, but this pops up, so…wait till next chapter and see what happens ^_^ And if you played Final Fantasy X, you'll notice that the dragon in this fic is sort of like Evrae of Bevelle, only stronger. I just love writing about battles ^_^ It's fun.

A big thanks to my fellow reviewers:

Mogmatt

Mystik Surreality

And Lis, to go to Gamefaqs , search under Gamefaqs.com and it'll immediately appear. I wonder why the link doesn't appear correctly in the reviews, but oh well, maybe some HTML error or something. Good luck in completing the mission!

Next chapter: Chapter 4 – Fight Above and Beneath


	5. Chapter 4: Fight Above and Beneath

****

Chapter 4: Fight Above and Beneath

"AAAAAHH!!" Quistis fell and started to slide off the roof. She tried to cling onto any holds, but hot metal met her fingers. She tried to hang on, but the smooth surface let her slip further away.

"QUISTIS!" Irvine dashed down towards where Quistis was and managed to grab her hand in time just as she was about to fall off. Quistis looked down at the white clouds and the gleaming ocean below. She felt weakened by the sight and looked away. Her grip on Irvine's hand grew.

"HANG ON!" He pulled her left arm with all his might. She struggled to pull herself up. But she felt her hand slowly slipping away from Irvine's grasp.

Just then, Quistis sighted Squall's Lionheart sticking out a few meters away from Irvine's spot. She had an idea, but it was risky. But risk or no risk, she had to do something, or else…She shook the frightening thoughts away.

_Concentrate…_Taking her Save the Queen in her other free arm, she waved it in the air a few times and struck where the Lionheart was. She missed by a few inches, and she pulled her whip back into her hands. She tried this again, and finally her whip coiled itself tightly around the hilt of the weapon. _Yes!_

Suddenly, her hand slipped out of Irvine's. She watched in horror as she felt herself falling down through air, the wind screaming into her ear.

"QUISTIS!!!! NO!!!!" Irvine yelled as he watched her fall.

Just as she was about to fall, her right hand quickly tightened its grip on her whip. As she slid off, she hit the side of the Ragnarok a few times, the heat burning her bare skin where it met the hot exterior, but she ignored the coursing pain. Before she knew it, she halted abruptly. She was hanging there precariously in midair, her life on the line. Everything now depends on her weapon. 

Then she felt her whip budged. She started going lower. The whip tensed tightly in her hand. _Squall's Gunblade! _If this keeps on, her whip would break, or the Gunblade would dislodge itself, and…

"Quistis! Hang in there!" she heard Irvine's voice called down to her. Then she felt herself being pulled upwards. Summoning every willpower she had in her, she grasped the handle with both her hands, and let herself be pulled back up to safety. 

After what seems to be an eternity of minutes, she saw Irvine's outstretched hand. She gratefully held his hand, and she hauled herself back onto the top of the Ragnarok. Irvine held her close in his arms, and quietly led her away from edge. They sat down near the hatch, catching their breath back.

"Thanks…" Quistis breathed. She wiped away the beads of sweat that trickled down her face. Her cheeks felt hot, and her hands were tired from the strain of holding on in mid air for some time. 

"Hey…no problem…" Irvine said, cracking a relieved smile. "I had to do what I had to do. You almost scared me back there. I thought I would lose you."

"I would not 'go' that easily, Irvine," replied Quistis curtly.

By that time, Squall had recovered from the surprise attack delivered by the dragon. He slowly stood back up with a groan. Irvine and Quistis slowly made their way towards him. Quistis unfurled her whip from Squall's Lionheart and recoiled it back in her hands.

"Hey man. You okay?" asked Irvine. Squall silently nodded his head and looked at Quistis. She said, "I'm fine. If it weren't for Irvine, I wouldn't be here." 

The trio now turned to face the dragon. It was silent now, its fire-tail waving back and forth as it rested to regain its strength back. Blood trailed from its wounded eye as the dragon watched its human foes warily, its injured wings wavering uncertainly in the air.

"It's best…you all stay here," Squall said as he went towards where his Lionheart stood rooted in the airship. He calmly placed both his hands onto the hilt of the weapon and slowly pulled it out.

"Squall…are you sure you can do it? You're hurt," Quistis said.

"I'm fine…Let me…take care of this," Squall said and he went forward for the final onslaught. His weapon glowed with fury as he charged forward with a cry.

"RENZOKUKEN!" He slashed at the dragon's head many times, sending it screaming as the blade cut into its bloodied head in multiple swings. At that time, the creature had lost its hold onto the Ragnarok. Its front claws shook in the air, trying to brush Squall off but kept missing. It roared with an agonizing screech.

Upon finishing his seven-trigger moves, Squall landed in front of the dragon, exhausted. But he still pressed on. Squall gripped his Gunblade tightly and the weapon glowed brighter than before.

"ROUGH DIVIDE!" Squall dragged the blade of his weapon on the roof, creating a huge gash in the metal surface and struck upwards with full force. The huge power from the blade sent the dragon sprawling upwards and away from the Ragnarok. As the Ragnarok zoomed past, it shrieked its last death cry before disappearing beneath the clouds.

"Good…riddance…" Squall muttered as he watched the dragon plummeted into the deep blue ocean below, creating a huge splash where it had landed.

Finished with his job, Squall wearily made it back to where Quistis and Irvine were. He saw her unleashed her Blue Magic as a blue glow emanated within her. A warm and comforting breeze blew around them for a while. Squall recognized the blue magic as White Wind.

"Quistis? You can still do…magic?" asked Irvine in disbelief as the glow disappeared from her body and the warm wind died down. Squall felt invigorated once more. 

She smiled at them and said, "Yes, because I'm a Blue Mage. My limit break is my magic. That's why I can still do magic." She stood back up and kept her weapon.

"I see…Wait! Does that mean that Selphie and Rinoa can also do their magic?"

That had never dawned on them before. 

"This means that only Sorceresses and Blue Mages are the only ones left able to do magic," said Squall.

"Right and wrong. You can still do magic, but only a few certain ones, like a Limit Break," said Quistis. Just then, she saw something glinting at the place where the dragon last stood. "Did you guys see something there?"

"What is it?" Irvine asked. The trio made their way towards the shining spot, avoiding the many holes, burns, gashes and dark puddles that seemed to be dragon's blood, the many residues from a huge battle fought in air.

"I wonder what's the President in Esthar's gonna say about his airship," said Irvine as he eyed the deep cut made by Squall's Gunblade.

_Him? I don't think he would even care, _thought Squall as he stepped over a huge hole made by the dragon's claws. 

Then they saw it. Near the dark pools of red, they saw a huge, glowing red gem. It was spherical in shape, and it had a gold band around it. Quistis knelt down and gently lifted the stone up. It was a bit heavy in her hands. She held it gingerly in her palms, careful not to drop the gem.

"Maybe it came from the dragon," said Irvine. He eyed the gem closely. "From what I can see, I think this is a ruby. And a finely made one too. See its smooth round edges?" He gently ran his finger on the glowing surface and held it up to see. "No dust and no scratches. My, this is a good-no…this is a _high_ quality gem."

"Thank you for the thorough explanation, Irvine. I didn't know you were such an expert in studying stones," said Quistis. "But I don't recalled reading or heard of a ruby-wielding dragon. Is there a connection between this and the GFs?"

"Well…for one thing, we can bring this to the Doc at Esthar. Ask him what is it," Irvine said.

Quistis nodded. "Good idea. Squall?"

Squall picked up a few white Dragon Fang lying next to a chunk of what looked like dragon's flesh and pocketed it before turning to them.

"Let's go back," said Squall. "The rest are waiting for us." 

The three of them made for the hatch. Squall could not help but gave one last glance back down at the deep blue sea below.

_Somehow, this seems to be just the beginning of a nightmare. And it seems we are not gonna wake up from it that soon…_

* * *

Outside Balamb Garden, two figures were walking towards the gate entrance of the academy. One was a giant bronzed-skinned man wielding a huge stick whereas the other was a white-haired lady in blue carrying a Blaster Edge in her right arm. They both walked with tired but determined steps up the path leading to Balamb Garden.

"You sure this is the right thing to do, Fu?" asked the dark-skinned man. His white-haired partner nodded curtly. Two stone gargoyles and the metal gates met their sight. The man sighed heavily and said, "Fine…for Seifer's sake, ya know."

"SEIFER." The girl nodded.

They reached the gate, but found it locked. The man then rattled the bars of the gates. The noise brought out an annoyed cadet who was busy talking with his girlfriend behind a thick bush. The two of them paused when they took in the sight.

"Who are you people?" asked the cadet.

"We need to see Headmaster Cid immediately ya know," said the man.

"URGENT."

The two cadets looked at each other and said, "We'll be right back." The cadets turned to go and ran, with a few glances back.

"Ya think they are afraid of us?" the man joked.

"MAYBE."

A few minutes later, the metal gates slowly swung open, letting them in. The man heaved a heavy breath and said, "Ah…it's good to be back home, ya know."

"CID. NOW." The white-haired lady tried to drag her huge partner along, but he did not even budge an inch. The man looked down at her. She glared back up at him with her single eye. Then she left him alone as she made her way up the stairs herself.

"Ah…fine…" the dark-skinned man said, giving in. He walked slowly, still enjoying the sight of his old place and met his partner waiting for him at the second entrance, arms folded, one eye scowling at him. 

"Sorry, Fu…but this is our old home, ya know." He looked around. "Nothing much has changed, ya know." 

The lady pointed at the third entrance beyond. The man scratched his head and said, "You sure? Really, really sure?"

A sharp knock on the head answered him. "Okay! Okay! We'll go."

The lady shrugged and they both entered the grounds of Balamb Garden.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Hmm…what's going on now? The dragon holds a ruby, the Posse's back but missing a member…more questions arises, more stuff to write…*rubs temple* Headache-nya…

Anyway, thank you for all those who have reviewed the previous chapter: 

anonymous 

KinofDragon – Somebody might be the key to something. Maybe Squall, maybe the others, who knows? :P

Nenya – yes, I'm being evil for putting a cliff-hanger there, but it's just a short one, so…here I've updated. Have fun reading!

Oh, and the ruby-thing is sort of like the Jecht Spheres/memory spheres of Final Fantasy X (why do I keep borrowing stuff from FFX?), only ruby-red in colour. But why spheres? More will unfold at the next Chapter 5: Five Spheres.


	6. Chapter 5: The Five Spheres

Chapter 5: Five Spheres 

         "Where's that funny Doc?"

         "Zell, watch your words," warned Quistis, not looking up from the book she was reading.

         "Nobody's here…" said Rinoa, looking around. "I wonder where everyone went."

         Dr Odine's lab was pretty deserted except for the six of them there. Even the Presidential Aides were not there. From within the corridor, came the sounds of bubbling and occasionally the sound of a bell chiming in the silent lab. Otherwise, nothing much was added to the boring interior of the lab. 

         Besides a creepy-looking creature in a glass bowl on the table, which was a pathetic sight. It looked like the fish just bathed in mud with its brown mosaic-like patches around its body, and its wide black eyes stared at the side of the bowl with a blurred expression, its mouth opened in a wide, boring-O. 

         It had been in that state for the past twenty minutes. 

         Sighing, Squall got tired of watching the fish and stood back up. He saw Rinoa standing near a wooden pedestal, looking at a black book. Irvine and Selphie were chatting away at the other side of the room. Quistis was leafing through a thick, green book she took from the bookcase, and Zell was strolling restlessly around the room before coming to a stop in front of the fish bowl on the small table.

         "This is getting us nowhere," said Zell in a dull tone, poking absently at the glass bowl in front of the fish.

         Suddenly the glass bowl shook. In it, the creature grew black, its eyes turned into a livid red, and rows of sharp teeth grew from its protruded mouth. It started snapping its jaws at where Zell's finger was pointing at it, making loud, angry noises. The water where it was contained in started to quake, sending drops of water flying out of its bowl.

         "Woah!" Zell took a few steps back away from the angry fish.

         "Zell, don't disturb the fish," said Quistis without glancing at him as she returned the book to its shelf.

         "I didn't do anything-"

         "Who dares to dizturb my precious!" a voice thundered.

         Everyone turned to find a stout-looking man in purple and a red-and-white-fanned collar around its neck standing in the doorway of the corridor. They silently watched him walked in a penguin-ish way towards the glass bowl and eyed his creature. Sighing, the man got out a blue vial and poured its contents into the bowl. 

         In a few seconds, the fish changed back to its original boring state, and it slowly swam to the other side of the bowl. Satisfied, the man corked the vial once more and kept it in his pocket of his baggy purple pants before turning to the silent audience in the room.

         "Now what do you people want?" demanded Dr.Odine.

         Squall got out the yellowed paper and showed the message in red to him. The scientist stared at it for a few moments before saying, "So?"

         "We want an explanation," said Rinoa.

         "Do you know anything about this, Doctor?" asked Quistis.

         "Well…I'm not the one who waz in thiz, so don't ask me."

         "Lately, we couldn't summon any GF. How come?" asked Selphie.

         "Becauze one, you didn't junctioned it; two, you didn't have it; and three…" The scientist paused.

         "Three…?" prompted Irvine.

         "Three…I don't know." Silence in the lab. Squall just shrugged as everyone sighed heavily.

         "Forget that we asked about it." Quistis got out the red spherical gem and showed it to him. "Do you know anything about this?"

         This time, the scientist's eyes grew wide with interest as he saw the gem. "Zat…zat…how did you get zat?"

         "A kind dragon gave it to us," said Irvine. "But after he tried to hitch a free ride aboard the Ragnarok."

         Dr Odine shook his head in disbelief. "Thiz cannot be…I thought the Five Spheres are fake accountz of stories, but…now…"

         "Five Spheres?" asked Rinoa.

         The scientist started muttering a lot of words so fast nobody could catch what he was saying. Squall could only heard snippets of words, "Five Spheres…five elements…Dragon…"

         "Slow down, Doc. We don't get what you're talking about," said Zell.

         "…Water, Wood, Fire, and Earth…A powerful dragon guardz each of the Spheres of the same element with it…" The scientist paused and turned to Quistis. "Bring me zat sphere…" 

         Quistis showed it to him. Dr. Odine took out a monocle from his pocket and eyed the gem inquisitively. Bobbing his head, he kept his monocle and said, "Thiz you have here iz the Fire Sphere."

         "How did you know?" Zell asked.

         "Don't you ever study your elements, Zell? Red usually symbolises the colour of fire," said Quistis, casting an annoyed glance at the spiky blond. Zell smiled sheepishly before turning away.

         "Which means the dragon we fought earlier is the Fire Dragon," she continued. "But why does it want to attack us?"

         "For zat I am not sure. But I do know zat if humanz ever get their handz on one, one can command utmost power. One can take over the world." The scientist laughed as his face gave way to a malicious grin. Then pointing up a finger, he said, "But for a cost."

         "What cost?" asked Irvine.

         "The cost…the power from legendary beingz you mortalz called the Guardian Forces."

         "What has the GF's power got to do with these spheres?" asked Rinoa.

         "Without GFs, this Spheres won't function, and if it can't function, you can't use itz power. Common zense, my dear."

         "What power does it has?" asked Squall.

         "Enough…to deztroy an entire city. Use five and the entire world will be…" The scientist trailed off. He didn't need to say more; everyone understood what would happen.

         "Who the hell's so nuts about destroying a city, or a world for that matter?! Isn't this getting a bit old?" complained Zell.

         "Zell, shut up," everyone said. Zell went silent.

         "That's why we couldn't summon any GFs…" said Rinoa. "They are not appearing anymore…"

         "They either refuzed to appear or they are already captured," explained the scientist. The last part of the scientist's statement sparked off another question from Zell.

         "How can you captured a GF?" asked Zell.

         "So many questionz to answer, so little time." The scientist sighed heavily. "You summon you get the GF, no?"

         Everyone nodded.

         "So, you—summon—you—get--the GF, understand?" said the scientist slowly word-by-word as though talking to a bunch of five-year-olds. Dumbfounded silence filled the room again. Zell resumed to poking the fish once more, only to earn an annoyed glare from Quistis. 

         "Riiight…but I still don't get it," said Selphie. "You summon and the GF comes forth, unleash its attack and _poof they disappeared. Well, that's what they used to do anyway…"_

         "Scientistz can conztruct machinez of many wonderz, my dear," replied the scientist.

         This struck a thought in Squall's mind. "This means the person who captures the GFs…is a scientist." Everyone turned to face Dr.Odine. He looked back at them, unfazed by their stares and shook his hands in a 'no' gesture.

         "But I told you already, I'm not the one in it."

         "Then which mad scientist wants it?" asked Zell.

         "They are many scientistz out there, so you can slowly find them one-by-one and question them. Don't come and look for me." The scientist bobbed his head up and down before making his way out from the lab.

         "Wait! You didn't tell us how to solve this!" called Rinoa. The scientist stopped, spun a smooth 180º around and quietly said, "Juzt get the other Spheres."

         "This world is so huge, how are we gonna find them?" asked Irvine.

         "You have to find them no matter what." He turned to walk away again. His last few words lingered for a few moments in everyone's mind, "And unless you get the other four Spheres, you know what iz gonna happen."

*     *     *

         "I don't believe it," said Selphie.

         "Me either," said Rinoa.

         "Enough to annihilate mankind…" Quistis added. "Who wanted to do this?"

         Everyone was quiet as the Ragnarok moved silently back towards Balamb. Selphie tweaked a few levers here and there, and the airship creaked for a few seconds before the signal "AUTO-PILOT" appeared on the screen-board.

         "So, what are we gonna do now?" asked Selphie as she turned back to her friends. Everyone couldn't speak a word. The room was filled with an irritating silence. Squall was brooding as usual in one corner with Rinoa. The rest were staring into space, arms folded. Selphie sighed and turned back to piloting the airship, even though she had set it to auto-mode.

         _Ragnarok, _thought Squall. They were coming back, bearing the message of a potential doomsday that was bound to happen anytime, any moment, anywhere. Ragnarok itself meant 'doom of the living gods' in the ancient language Hyne knows what. Squall shook his head wearily at the irony of it all.

         _But for us, it's the doom of the living. And until we stopped it…_

         Suddenly the intercom of the airship blared to life. Static filled the silence, and suddenly a man's voice broke through screaming, "Ragnarok! Esthar to Ragnarok! We are being attack by a vicious dragon! Please sent help immediately!" A screeching roar that sounded familiar emanated in the noisy background. "Ragnarok! Do you read me?"

         _Another dragon?!_ Squall thought.

         Then another voice came, this time all too familiar to Squall's ears, "Commander Squall? This is President Laguna here. I need you and your SeeDs at Esthar right now. We-" Another roar and the line went dead. Tension hung heavily in the air. Everyone was stunned into silence.

         "Squall…what do we do now?" asked Selphie softly, turning back to face Squall. He stood back up and went forward to the cockpit, with Rinoa trailing behind him. Everyone watched their Commander silently as he looked out at the view outside before turning to Selphie.

         "…We'll go back to Esthar."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Another wave of dragons? Yeap…I think now there's more dragons in this fic than any other that I've read about…don't worry, it's not gonna run from the central theme of Griever. :P

A grateful thank you to my constant reviewer, Mogmatt – I totally agree with you, you just CAN'T go wrong with a guy in a trench-coat :P And Seifer's gonna appear soon, and there might (I said might) be a Seiftis somewhere in this fic…

Upcoming chapter – Chapter 6: Chaos within the City

P.S. If you want a Seiftis, post your answer in your review after reading this fic. I hope to get good response out of this…Arigato gozaimasu!


	7. Chapter 6: Chaos within the City

Chapter 6: Chaos within the City 

         "EYYYYAHHHHHHHHHHH!" the black dragon screeched as it sent a burst of blue fire towards a group of running soldiers, sending them flying from the momentum of the crash, burning them all. The dragon clambered forward and roared again.

         "Mr. President! We need to get you to safety now!" spoke one of the soldiers as he got to the man who stood behind a vehicle, getting his weapon ready. The man looked up from what he was doing and said, "I can't, I can't leave the city like this." He locked the barrel and slung his weapon over his shoulders. "I'm not running away from something like this. I have to defend the city."

         "But sir!"

         "Call for reinforcement, soldier!" commanded a voice from within the vehicle and out strode a dark-skinned man, armed with his a razor-sharp blade protruding from both arms. 

         "Yes sir!" the soldier said and hurried off towards another direction, shouting something into his cell-phone just as a blue fireball hurtled passed his head a few inches before crashing into a building, destroying it. The soldier was so frightened, he dropped the cell-phone and ran off, screaming.

         Shaking his head, Laguna looked around his city, watching the smoke rising from behind burning buildings and cracked roads when minutes ago it had been calm and serene with many people walking around. Now, dead bodies lay everywhere and building structures were horribly damaged beyond help, all because of a malevolent dragon.

         But he, Laguna Loire, President of Esthar, is not gonna go down without giving it a fight. His grip on his machine-gun grew. The fiery fighting spirit within him burned with determination.

         "Where's Ward?" he asked.

         The sounds of another vehicle arriving at the scene answered him. The vehicle skidded into a stop a few meters away from where Laguna and Kiros as it paused in mid-air. The door slid open to reveal a giant man in his old sailor clothes.

         "Ward here," spoke the man as he clambered out, dragging an anchor with him. The heavy weight of the anchor did not bother the man at all due to the long years of training. 

         "Looks like the old group is here now," said Laguna, who was dressed in his casual clothes, not looking any bit like the old soldier he once was. However, the machine-gun slung on his shoulders showed that he still had not forgotten the way of the wars.

         Nodding to his friends, he called, "Let's go fight the dragon!" 

         They nodded and the three of them hurried towards where the black dragon stood on one of the skyways, breathing blue fire everywhere. Flames started burning as buildings and roads caught the fire, creating a huge inferno surrounding the dragon. Satisfied with its demolition job, the black dragon screamed a triumphant cry, the blaze reflecting in its sapphire-blue eyes as it flapped its silver-gray wings, getting ready to fly.

         "Hold it! I'm not letting you off for destroying this city!" shouted Laguna as he started shooting at the dragon. Gunfire filled the air as bullets whizzed towards the dragon. But to the creature, it was nothing as the bullets just rebounded off its thick, scaly hide and lay in a useless pile around the dragon. The dragon snorted, black smoke emitting from its nose as its red tongue slithered forth.

         "No way…" Laguna took a step back, his machine-gun trailing smoke at its end.

         "The dragon is impervious to normal bullets, it seems," said Kiros. "At any rate, my Katal wouldn't even work on it. Yours too, Ward." The giant nodded his head in agreement.

         "Then I'll use this," said Laguna, taking out a hand grenade from one of his pockets. He pulled the key-pin and tossed the grenade at the dragon before emptying a few clips of ammo at it.

         "Go!" he yelled and the trio went for cover behind Ward's vehicle. Just as they got behind it, an explosion went off, and they heard the dragon screamed in surprise mixed with pain. The ground they stood on vibrated faintly from the force of the explosion.

         "You got spare?" grunted Ward, dragging his anchor close.

         "Let's see…" Laguna checked his pockets, and produced two more hand grenades. "My last few." He handed each one to his friends.

         "Don't you need it?" asked Kiros.

         Just then, then heard a heavy thud, and the ground they were on shook. A huge shadow covered them, and they heard the heavy breathing of the black dragon above them.

         "Great…it's found us," Laguna said quietly. He slowly aimed his machine-gun upwards before turning to his two friends. "When I start shooting, you guys run."

         "We're not leaving you behind," said Kiros. Ward shook his head too.

         "We run, you run," Ward said.

         "I'm grateful to have you guys as my best friends. But you still have to take a President's orders, right?" Laguna asked. "So, listen-"

         "We. Don't. Care," Kiros and Ward said at the same time. Laguna looked at his friends' determined faces. He gave up trying to convince them to run. He shook his head and formulated an escape plan.

         "…Fine. On the count of three, I shoot, you throw the bombs, and we run, okay? So…one…two…"

         Before Laguna made it to three, they heard the sounds of shooting from mid-air. That meant only one thing.

        Squall and co. has arrived.

        The trio looked up just as they saw the Ragnarok zoomed in onto the battle scene. The black dragon looked up and breathed another blue fireball at the incoming airship but missed as the Ragnarok swerved smoothly to the side, evading it nicely. The fireball shattered one of the floors in the buildings in a huge crash, sending shards of broken glass raining down on one side of the road. 

         The enraged dragon screamed once more as shooting resumed from the Ragnarok's side. Bullets hailed towards the dragon and the vehicle where Laguna took shelter as the airship fly past above to the left.

         Then Laguna heard the dragon roared furiously before thundering away after the Ragnarok. He heard the heavy beating of wings and looked up from behind a badly damaged side window to see the dragon taking off after the Ragnarok.

         "Oh no you don't!" Laguna quickly grabbed the remaining grenades from his friends and pulling off the clips with his teeth, he then threw both of the bombs towards the dragon.

         At the same time, the Ragnarok made a U-turn and and launched a missile, the white torpedo sparking off with a whizzing blast of fire from the end, towards the dragon too.

         _Two bombs and a missile…OH NO!_

         "RUN!" yelled Laguna at his two friends. Two dark figures were running away from behind the vehicle, and he ran to join his friends just as he felt the ground beneath him quaked and the dragon's surprised cry piercing the silence before it realized what was happening.

         _KAAABOOOOOOOOOMMMM!_

 *     *     *

         "Oh, Hyne…" Quistis murmured under her breath as she watched the mushroom cloud from the explosion forming from where the dragon was, enveloping nearby buildings in thick black smoke and creating a huge impact where explosion went off. 

         "What? What happened to the dragon? It's not giving chase?" asked Selphie as she brought the Ragnarok up to a higher level, safe from the impact of the bombs.

         "I think I saw somebody threw some bombs at the dragon when we were launching the missile," said Zell, watching from the sidescreen. "Then KABOOM…man, this city's gonna burn."

         Black smoke trailed from every corner of the city, with many buildings that had been damaged or collapsed, and some of it were still burning away as flames licked faintly at the steel structures. Sirens of the ambulances could be heard faintly wailing away as they rushed to help the hurt. Copters were seen flying around the red zone where the explosion took place, shining their white light here and there to seek out any survivors. 

         Only the central part and the Presidential Palace remained intact. The other half of the great city of Esthar was destroyed due to a rampant dragon.

         "Oh, Hyne…" Quistis said it again as she shook her head sadly. "I can't believe this is happening…"

         "I wonder how's Mr. President is doing…" Selphie said worriedly. 

         Just then, Laguna's voice answered her through the intercom amidst a static background. "Ragnarok! Are you still there?"

         "Mr. President!" Selphie shouted excitedly. "You're alive!"

         "Uh…yes…" a small laughter responded. "Although barely…"

         "What do you want us to do now?" asked Squall who appeared behind Selphie.

         "I will need some help trying to get everything under control…I mean, the city to get under control."

         Just as Squall was about say that they would think about it, Selphie had answered, "No problem! Leave it to us!"

         "Okay…then I guess we'll meet at the Airstation then." He hung up, and the line was closed.

         "Yeah! We're gonna help Mr. President to rebuild his city!" said Selphie, pumping her fist into the air.

         "Selphie…since when are you allowed to give orders?" Squall asked, with a slight hint of controlled anger and annoyance in it. Selphie felt it and turned to him, smiling sheepishly as she apologized. 

         "Sorry, guess I just got…carried away?"

         "Our mission was to obtain whatever information we can get from Dr. Odine, not to-"

         "Squall…just leave the matter at rest," said Rinoa. "We need to help the President as his city got under attack from-"

    "-a dragon. I know, but-"

         "Guys! The dragon's still ALIVE!" Selphie shouted, pointing down at the red zone. Everyone looked at where she was indicating at, and as the smoke started to clear, they saw a dark figure moving. Without warning, the black serpent had appeared, and screeching with anger, it started flying at an unbelievable speed, snaking its ways upwards.

         Towards the Ragnarok.


	8. Chapter 7: The Black Dragon Speaks

Chapter 7: The Black Dragon Speaks 

         "DRAGON INCOMING!" yelled Selphie as she pulled the lever all to the left to bring the Ragnarok to the side, trying to evade the dragon. The sudden shift sent the rest clinging onto something for support. Zell hung on to the backseat of Selphie, saying, "Control, Selphie!"

         "I'm trying!" 

         A hollow scream pierced the tension into silence as the dragon loomed into view. Everyone braced for the next barrage of fireballs, and Selphie tried to bring the Ragnarok as far as she could from the dragon. 

         However, instead of tearing through the Ragnarok, the black dragon flew all the way upward, _evading the airship. _

It was actually _evading the airship. _

Stunned silence hung in the cockpit as they watched the dragon disappear behind a thick cloud, resonating a hollow cry. Then nothing. 

         "…Huh?" Selphie wondered aloud.

         "It's…it's actually _avoiding us…" said Zell, looking up from behind Selphie's backseat._

         "But…why?" asked Quistis.

         Silence filled the room again. Nobody could answer her. Nobody knew the sudden change of the dragon's behavior. 

         "Oh well…maybe we should just go back…" Selphie began, but she started shrieking again, "IT'S COMING BACK!"

         Out of the blue, the black dragon flew and stayed suspended in mid-air, facing the cockpit directly, its thin silver-gray wings flapping slowly to keep it aloft. Its piercing blue eyes swept through everyone as it looked around before landing on Squall. Its eyes narrowed, and Squall blinked in confusion as he stared back at the dragon.

         "Uh…Squall? I think…the dragon…" Selphie said slowly.

         Leonhart… A deep voice echoed.

         "Who's that?" shouted Zell, looking around.

         "Zell…I think it came from the dragon," said Quistis, pointing at the black dragon outside the Ragnarok.

         Correct, Trepe…

         "You…know us?" asked Irvine.

         I know each and every one of you…where's Almasy?

         That question jolted something in everyone. The surname itself stirred various effects from the people in the airship. Quistis and Rinoa grew surprised and looked away from everyone. Zell was fuming away, swearing about his nemesis beneath his breath. Selphie and Irvine just looked at each other. Squall shrugged.

         "He's…not here with us…" said Quistis finally.

         Hmm…a missing member of the Liberi Fatali… the dragon said slowly, its deep-blue sapphire eyes blinked. Never mind…which of you is the Sorceress?

         Rinoa snapped into attention and looked at the dragon in the eye. She tentatively said, "I am."

         The dragon turned to face Quistis. So Trepe is the Blue Mage…

         "And I thought it just said it knew everyone…" said Zell, clasping his hands behind his head.

         "What do you want from us?" asked Squall.

         You will know it soon. For now…I sense the presence of the Fire Sphere. Where is it?

         Quistis brought it out from behind a seat, the sphere gleaming brightly in her hands as she gingerly carried it to the front, careful not to drop the heavy gem.

         Good…I see that you have it… 

         "What is going on? What is happening to the GFs? What is happening to _us_?" Zell asked.

         Don't ask so many questions, Dincht…shut up and learn to listen…

         "Why-you…" Zell cracked his knuckles together.

         "Zell…" Selphie turned back and shook her head. Zell reluctantly stopped and kept quiet. He turned away from the dragon's view.

         "Please…tell us what is going on," Rinoa implored the dragon. "All this…"

         GFs are being hunted, the Banryus are being hunted…all just to lure our master out… the dragon began.

         "Banryus?" asked Irvine, cocking an eyebrow beneath his cowboy hat.

         "Banryus…'guard dragon'…" explained Quistis.

         Yes. I'm the Dark Banryu. The dragon you encountered earlier is the Fire Banryu… The dragon gave a tired sigh. Unfortunately, I think it was captured already…

         "Captured?" asked Zell.

         "Wait. What do you mean by 'lure our master out'?" asked Quistis. "Who's your master?"

         The dragon paused. It turned to face Squall again. Ask Leonhart…

         "…Squall?" Rinoa prompted him. Squall turned to face her. He shook his head. 

         "I don't know…what the dragon's talking about…"

         Leonhart…what the hell you mean you don't know what I'm talking about? The dragon gave a deep laugh, thin wisps of white smoke trailing from its jet-black nose. You had it with you all the time, and you didn't know?

         Squall shook his head.

         Oh, poor human…having a Griever and not knowing about it is like walking out of a treasure room empty-handed…

         "Griever?" Squall held his pendant that hung on a silver chain around his neck. He fingered the cold Griever, turning this way and that. Behind, the words, '_Sleeping Lion Heart' were engraved on it, above his name, '-SQUALL LEONHART-'. That was all that was there._

         "You mean…" Rinoa began.

         Yes…Griever…is my master…

         "The king of all GFs…" Squall said under his breath, studying his Griever pendant. "Now I get it…"

         Good. The foolish one is finally enlightened…

         "But what has it got to do with Griever?" asked Rinoa.

         You will know it soon.

         "Who was behind all this?" asked Zell.

         You will know it soon.

         "What has this got to do with us? The…what did he say?" asked Irvine. "Some…Li…ri...something…"

         "Liberi Fatali," said Rinoa.

         Liberi Fatali…Children of Fate…your destiny are of one… The dragon looked around. Except…one of you is not here…

         "Seifer…" murmured Quistis under her breath. The dragon nodded.

         _When the Liberi Fatali gathers once more…The world will be saved, from the brink of destruction… the dragon said. Suddenly the dragon froze. It looked about and as it looked above, it gave an ear-splitting screech again._

         "Now what?" asked Zell.

         "Something is above us!" Selphie said, showing a red spot blinking on top of the screen-board. She started typing furiously away at the keys. "I'll try to see what it is…"

         Without warning, the Ragnarok lurched dangerously to the side, catching everyone by surprise. Fortunately, they managed to hang on by gripping onto nearby seats for support. Selphie managed to stay put, still typing.

         "Hey guys! Look!" Zell called, and pointed. Everyone looked out of the windscreen, and gasped with awe at the sight that unfurled before them.

         A glossy black dragonhead at the front emerged from behind a huge cloud, followed by the rest of its shiny black body as it moved majestically across the blanket of white puffs that was the sky. Gold patterns streaked around the airship, making it looked like a black, magnificent dragon skimming in the air.

_         Wait a minute_…Squall thought. _Black dragon-like structure???_

         "It's a Ragnarok!" exclaimed Selphie, answering Squall's thoughts.

         "My, you're right!" said Irvine.

         The black Ragnarok suddenly started to transform. The two folded arms of the airship had extended outwards, and it flexed its claws out menacingly. It paused in a gripping gesture, and turned slowly towards where the dragon was. 

         The black dragon did not like the look of this. A menacing growl grew before the black dragon fired a blue ball of fire at the black Ragnarok, aiming dead straight right at the dragonhead that was the cockpit.

         "Oh no! It's gonna hit the Ragnarok!" Selphie cried out.

         However the black airship did not move. Everyone aboard the red Ragnarok watched in silence as the blue fireball hit the black Ragnarok, scorching it black and…

         Or _did it_? 

         As soon as the fireball flew towards the black airship, a shimmering translucent globe started to form around it. The ball of blue fire scorched the outside of the globe before the flames died away into nothing. As the fireball extinguished, the shield shone a pale-green light before dissolving.

         "What—the—HELL?!" Zell cried out. "This cannot BE!"

         Even the black dragon was surprised. Knowing that the fireballs did not work on the strange newcomer, it decided to use its retreat for the time being. The black dragon roared and taking one last glance at the red Ragnarok, it flew downwards in a twisting spiral back towards Earth.

         However, the black Ragnarok refused to let its prize get away as it too started to dive down after the dragon, claws outstretched, blue lightning crackling around it-

         "We have to stop the black Ragnarok!" Rinoa called. "Squall! Do something!" Squall looked at her in surprise but regain his calm and collected composure as he turned to the waiting Selphie.

         "…Do what you're supposed to do."

         "Roger!" Selphie nodded and pulled the control lever, bringing the Ragnarok down too, giving chase after the black dragon and its dark hunter. "Here I come!" 

         The black dragon could be seen slithering here and there as fast as it could with the black Ragnarok hot on its trail. While on the run, the dragon turned to fire some blue fireballs to keep its hunter at bay, but to no avail as the balls of fire was reflected away by the green shield protecting the black Ragnarok. Soon, it was gaining momentum, and as the claws stretched out further to grab the fleeing dragon-

         "NO! You're NOT taking Mr. Black Dragon!" shouted Selphie as she swiftly hit two red buttons. "Take that! You-"

         "Selphie! Don't fire the missiles!" Squall ordered.

         "Huh? But, why?!"

         "We don't know who or what we are messing with, and it's best we do not shoot-" Squall watched as two white missiles flew towards the black Ragnarok. 

         Too late. Selphie had fired the missiles. Squall slapped his forehead in defeat.

         "Sorry…" Selphie said with a sheepish smile. Squall just shrugged and said, "…Whatever. What's done is done."

         But something happened.

         The missiles missed.

         They did flew towards the black Ragnarok, but they _missed_ as the missiles suddenly lost their jet power and fell into the clouds below with sputtering flames at its ends.

         Or _did it_?

         Just as the missiles had fallen, it reappeared again above the clouds, full power and this time, instead of targeting the black Ragnarok, it was whizzing its way back towards its owner.

         The red Ragnarok who had launched the missiles.


	9. Chapter 8: The Dark Hunter Catches Its P...

**Chapter 8: The Dark Hunter Catches Its Prey**

"AAHHH! Missile incoming! Missile incoming!" Selphie yelled again as the Ragnarok swerved to the side alarmingly, trying to avoid the missiles, the ABS alarm screaming on the control panel.

Up ahead, two missile heads loomed at the speed of rockets into view. As fast as it came, one flew inches above the windscreen of the cockpit, and the sounds of grating metal screeched loudly above joining together with sounds of the fizzing missile. The other one shot through beneath the jet-wing on the left, nearly hitting the jet engine as the missile whizzed away from the airship.

A few moments later, calm returned to the place as the two white blinking missile disappeared from the radar on the control panel.

"Phew…thank Hyne…" said Selphie, wiping her forehead with her free hand for any sweat. "I thought I'd almost die there..."

"Yeah, and you did a pretty good job…" rasped Irvine, coming to his feet and helping Quistis up from the floor. Rinoa had clung onto the Squall the whole time, but both had fallen onto the floor, and a muffled groan came from Squall who happened to be lying beneath Rinoa. Rinoa in a haste quickly got up and helped Squall back up to, who muttered a silent thanks. Zell who lost his hold on Selphie's seat was swearing away as he get up from behind her.

"Control, Selphie…damnit, try to CONTROL the airship properly…" Zell muttered.

"Sorry, guys! Anyway, whatever happened to the dragon now?"

A warning sign beeped on Selphie's screen-board. It showed the same two white dots, this time advancing towards the Ragnarok from behind.

And they were zooming in on their target at an alarming rate.

"AAAAAAAHHH! The missiles are BACK!"

"Selphie! Launch two more missiles, targeting those two!" commanded Squall who recovered his cool composure as he made his way towards Selphie's place. Selphie nodded feverishly and immediately smashed her fist onto two huge red button which would launch another pair of missiles from the Ragnarok.

On the screen-board, two red dots suddenly appeared, and were flying towards the incoming two white missiles. A heavy cloud of silence filled the cockpit as everyone held their breaths and watch whatever it was gonna happen. Selphie kept on driving, hoping to fly as far as possible from the place of impact before the Ragnarok itself would get consumed in its devastative wake. Imagining the scene, Selphie shuddered slightly and pushed that thought aside, forcing herself to keep cool and concentrate on her driving.

Outside, the missiles met dead head-on, and on the screen, the missiles collided into one another.

Immediately, a very loud explosion resonated from the outside, its impact sending the red Ragnarok way off course its track, crashing though several huge thick clouds as huge thick smoke emanated from the point of collision of the missiles. Fortunately, everyone had braced for the impact and found their balance holds, gripping onto seats for dear life. Selphie was almost thrown off her seat, but she managed to hold on, fingernails digging deep into the black velvet seat.

As everyone tried to recover from the shock and get themselves oriented once more, Selphie groped around the control panel dizzily and having found the required switch, she quickly brought the Ragnarok back to its central latitude position. The Ragnarok righted itself, and made a slow U-turn back towards the point of impact, although keeping its distance between the two.

A few seconds later, Selphie saw the red blinking words TARGETS ELIMINATED flashed fiercely on the board. The bouncy brunette gave a whoop of joy from her seat. "Yeah! We did it!"

"Yeah, but whatever happened to the dragon?" asked Irvine, pointing down at Selphie's currently blank screen-board.

"You're right, Irvine! Where IS the dragon?" Her short-lived celebration-mode ceased abruptly as everyone wondered where the dragon could have flown.

Quistis then spoke up, "We were thrown off-course…so…"

A familiar anguish cry interrupted her and brought everyone's attention to the outside of the cockpit.

"Don't tell me…" Selphie tried to bring the Ragnarok towards the source of the cry, and under her control, the airship turned swiftly and smoothly towards the right, roughly assuming that that was the location where the cry came from.

Suddenly, a glossy-black airship that looked similar to their Ragnarok shot out from behind a thick cloud with a blast, making an abrupt entrance that the Ragnarok immediately swerved all the way to the right, due to the ACS installed in the Ragnarok.

Selphie tapped a few buttons to regain control of the airship, and while doing so, the screen-board suddenly flashed another warning, but this time it did not pose a good sign.

RAGNAROK OVERRIDEN.

"WHAT!" Selphie cried in exasperation as she feverishly typed away at the keyboard, but to no avail as the warning sign was still there, a bad omen to Squall's crew.

Just then a glossy-black airship suddenly shot out with a blast from behind a huge thick cloud, creating a wave of broken tufts of cloud in its wake as it flew in a half-circle before coming to a perfect mid-air pause directly in front of the red Ragnarok, dragon-heads meeting head to head.

But the black Ragnarok had something else.

If it weren't for the sun's hot rays and the bright streak of something blood-red, nobody would have notice an unconscious form of a serpent-like creature which hung limp in the black Ragnarok's extended metallic arms, grasped tightly in its hold around the creature, leaving no opportunity for it to even struggle and try to escape.

The dark hunter had caught its prey.

Suddenly, the intercom in the cockpit blared to life, snapping everyone into attention as a man's voice addressed the group, "Greetings, the crew aboard the red Ragnarok."

"Who are you? Why did you capture the dragon?" Selphie demanded. "Let it go!"

"How come you had a black Ragnarok?" added Irvine.

The man chuckled, giving out a dry, raspy laugh. "That is none of your business. All I know is, my mission is to capture the black dragon for my boss, and nothing else." The voice laughed again. "Whoever's driving your airship, look's like you can handle that Ragnarok of yours pretty well. Nevertheless, you are no match for me in battling in the skies. What a pity." The man gave a sigh.

"How dare you-" fumed Selphie.

The voice continued. "I shall now leave you people in peace, but you shall have to do the same for me in the future. Till we meet again, goodbye and God bless." The line closed with a definite beep, and looking out, everyone watched the black Ragnarok started moving away, taking together the black dragon with it.

"Let's go chase it-" suggested Selphie but Squall cut her off in mid-sentence.

"No. We have to let him go."

"But-why!"

"Coz if you don't, he's gonna blow OUR Ragnarok into pieces," said Zell. "You heard him. We're no match for him when it comes to air battle. Look what he had done to our Ragnarok." He pointed to the flashing red warning on Selphie's screen-board.

"But-"

"Just…take us back. To Esthar. Now," Squall said with a resigned tone. The weary in his voice startled everyone, and they watched in silence as their commander shuffled silently towards the slid-doors, which slid open to admit him, and clanged silently back to a shut as Squall made his exit, without even a backward glance to his startled comrades.

"What…the…?" Selphie frowned, concerned at Squall's sudden cold reaction.

"I think I'll go check on him," Rinoa said. She got up and quickly ran towards the door.

And outside, the black Ragnarok started its triumphant descent, and vanished below the clouds without a trace, taking its prize together.

_A million eternities later (or about 3 hours)…_

The dejected crew aboard the Ragnarok finally made its way back to Balamb after Selphie finally managed to get the Ragnarok back under her control and the crew had settled everything at Esthar. Selphie drove the Ragnarok in silence while Quistis and Zell talked in muffled tones. Squall and Rinoa sat at the back, watching everyone else. Irvine tried to comfort Selphie with his sniper jokes, but she was just not in the mood to humor him back. It was gloomily quiet in the cockpit.

"Squall…why…is all of this happening?" asked Rinoa quietly, turning to him, only to find him asleep, his eyes closed, his head leaning tiredly onto one side. Rinoa gave a small smile as she gazed up at his peaceful sleeping face. His brown bangs covered partly of his face and as Rinoa reached out to gently sweep it aside, her hand brushed against his warm face. As she did so, Squall stirred slightly in his sleep; she quickly redrew her hand back as Squall opened his tired eyes and turned to her, asking in a soft voice, "Rin?"

"Sorry…I…woke you up…" Rinoa clasped her hands together. She felt his hand on her shoulder. She looked back and saw Squall's piercing blue-gray eyes on her.

"It's alright…just…tired..." Squall shifted his position and leaned back tiredly, closing his eyes. "So much has happened…"

"I'll wake you up when we reached Balamb Garden," Rinoa promised, holding his hand in hers. "So, rest yourself for now." She saw Squall nodded his head, and slumped to one side once more. Taking care not to wake Squall up again, she gently placed his hand back on the armrest and slowly got up to make her way to the front.

"Yo, Rinoa," said Zell. Rinoa quickly made a no-noise motion, then pointing at Squall, mouthing, "He's asleep." Zell got it and nodded. Irvine looked up and waved at her. She waved back.

"So…where were we?" asked Zell in a hushed tone.

"I told you, I've read something about the Five Spheres in the Library. We might know something from there," replied Quistis in a whisper. "I just hope the book is still there…who wants to go with me later?"

"Count me out, I'm_ sooo _not looking for old, thick books in the Library," said Zell.

"Rinoa? You wanna come?" asked Quistis.

Rinoa paused as she looked back at the sleeping Squall. She turned back and shook her head. "He's tired. I wish I could come, but…"

"It's okay. Take care of Squall for us," said Quistis. "We don't want to lose our leader." Rinoa smiled and nodded.

"That leaves…Irvine?" Before she could ask him, the cowboy automatically turned to her and said, "I'll go with you no matter how far it'll take me to."

Quistis blinked in surprise and slowly said, "Okay…whatever you say…"

ABS - Air Brake System  
ACS - Air Control System

* * *

WHAT! It's been 2 years since I've last updated! 

'''''' Eheheheh...the ficcy's been laying dormant in my comp gathering pixel dusts...but now I'm back! Expect major revamps in the next upcoming chapters and the language might change a bit (but story will stick to its original direction).

But-ooooooh, next chapter's gonna beinteresting. The man who has been missing for a really long timewill beback grins Until the next update! Ja


	10. Chapter 9: Excitate vos e somno, Griever

**Chapter 9: Excitate Vos E Somno, Griever**

_A few hours back before the Attack on Esthar…_

Beneath the ocean, near a deserted island, creatures of the deep lurked freely in the dark waters searching for food. Beneath the surface of the waves, a school of silverfish swam from one corner to the other, blocking out what further sunlight that could get through to the ominous depths of the sea.

Just then, a lonely wailing cry echoed from the deep part of the ocean, scaring the agitated silverfishes away. From the dark shadowy bottom, emerged a serpent-like creature swimming towards the light at full speed, creating giant bubbles along its trail.

As its blue horned head broke the surface of the water, it gave a small roar and looked up with its jade-green eyes around it. Seagulls shrieked in the air, and the ocean was calm. No boats were in sight as the golden sun casts its hot rays upon the body of water in where the dragon was.

_Where is it?_ Earlier, it felt the faint presence of one of its kind, when it was hibernating beneath the ocean. It felt the resonance of the ocean waves disturbed when the other dragon had landed into its territory, stirring it further from its long sleep and prompting it to search out this intruder.

Dragons don't go a-visiting each other; each was giving the duty by the Master to guard its own territory and guard their own elemental spheres. This further intrigued the dragon. It looked around, and felt the strong aura emanating a few feet away. It quickly swam towards the aura to find an injured reddish-gold dragon.

The first thing that came to the blue dragon's mind: _Injured? But that cannot be possible! Unless…_

"_What happened to you_?" the blue dragon asked, its jade-green eyes blinking in confusion. The red dragon cried hoarsely as it tried to lift its injured wings. The blue dragon saw the holes in the lavender wings. The red dragon slowly lifted its head, showing its injured eye.

"_What has those mortals done to you_?" asked the horrified blue dragon.

_All…for…a…good…cause…_

"_You mean…you gave them your Sphere_?" The red dragon nodded weakly. "_But…why_?"

_We…are being hunted…two of our kinds…have been captured…_

"_Never…_" The blue dragon shook its head, its aquamarine mane flapping wetly against its silvery-blue scales. "_This is impossible-"_

_Now, for the rest of us…our lives are at stake…_

Suddenly, both dragons froze. The air around them grew tense. Even the cries of the sea birds could not be heard. Everything was too still. The sudden silence made them wary. The red dragon sniffed the air tentatively. Its tired, amber eyes widened in horror.

_NO…they are here…RUN…_

"_But…you're injured_!" cried the blue dragon. _"I just can't leave you here!"_ It shook its serpentine head.

_Just GO…_ With a roar, the red dragon pushed the water dragon back into the waters with whatever leftover strength it had. Even though it had been weakened terribly, its force managed to push away the blue dragon down a few feet into the safety of the sea, away from the surface. A sorrowful cry resonated through the ocean. Indignant, the blue dragon quickly swam upwards again towards a dark shadow above that was the red dragon.

_NO… _The red dragon screeched telepathically in its mind. _Go back… _

Without warning, a white metallic contraption fell into the waters, trapping the red dragon in it in an instant as the opening below it clang shut automatically before the red dragon could escape. The surprised blue dragon managed to halt in time, but it started to wail again as it watched its mate being lifted away from the waters, behind the white bars.

_Go…be free…go find-_ Before it could say more, the cage disappeared from the waters, carrying the trapped dragon together. From above, the blue dragon heard its mate shrieked its last cry. The blue dragon swam quickly away, and once it was a safe distance away from the red dragon, it appeared slowly out from the water once more to see its mate writhing inside the white cage that was being lifted up from the waters by a white crane installed at the end of a magnificent white ship. It watched the weakened red dragon roared angrily in defiance at the white men in coats that had gathered around it before its cage was draped with a huge dull green canvas. Then, it was carried away below the ship, its mate lost from the blue dragon's sight.

The Water Banryu had seen enough. It was time to alert the others. It observed the white ship to store it away in its memory. And one thing surprised it.

The white ship that had come and take away the Fire Banryu had a white sail bearing the unmistakable symbol of a silver-white Griever.

In another dimension, a creature stirred silently in its sleep. An amber eye lifted lazily. The eye blinked slowly, and soon both eyes were lit up, illuminating the darkness surrounding it.

Yawning, the creature stood up, and arched its back, flexing its powerful limbs. It spread its white wings out wide and stretched. Then its wings started to beat rhythmically, raising the leonine creature into a standing position. Its black whip-like tail coiling around its hind legs, the creature lifted its blade-infused limbs, watching it glow with a dazzling orange light in the dark.

Then it looked around its surroundings. Millions of stars danced about it, and as it turned, it saw a globe of light shining from a distance away. Beyond the white shaft of light, it sighted something.

Something that reckoned it to come.

Something that irked its attention.

Something that demanded…destruction.

Just then, a huge dragon-like creature flew from the light towards the leonine creature. It came to a rest in front of it, landing silently on its four reptilian feet as it beat its powerful six wings rhythmically. The dragon lifted up its dark green head, and raised its six, silvery-black wings in respect to its finally-awakened master.

"_What do you want?_" spoke the leonine creature, pausing to remember the name of the familiar creature. "_…Bahamut ZERO_?"

The dragon transmitted its message telepathically. Information about the world below was exchanged in a matter of seconds. The creature's eyes dimmed slightly, then glowed even brighter as it nodded its lion-like head.

_Sire…The prophecy is coming true…what are you going to do?_ Bahamut ZERO asked.

"_I'll see what I can do…where are the Banryus now?"_

Again, the dragon spoke silently into its master's mind. The news the dragon conveyed was not good. Bahamut ZERO felt the growing anger emanating from the king of GFs. The leonine creature finally turned away and said, "_Them annoying mortals…go, you may leave._"

Bahamut ZERO lowered its head in respect before turning to go, extending its six black wings. As its wings beat with powerful strokes, it rose into the air and took off with a screech, and flew back towards the shaft of light where it had come from. The light grew brighter as Bahamut ZERO left the dimension, and the light later dimmed to its normal intensity.

The creature's amber eyes furrowed with annoyance as it thought back to Bahamut ZERO's message. Looking back down at its claws, it looked up and gave out a loud roar that shook the dimension it was in. Its wings started flapping loudly, and it turned once more towards the bright white light, with the stars disappearing behind like meteors flashing past, its roar echoing loudly in the place where it was once left to sleep after a horrifying battle in the future that had almost ended its life.

It never wanted to answer another summon again. Never, after that mad sorceress had summoned him. That was the last summon he was going to answer, it vowed. But things seemed to have taken another bad turn in the present. It roared angrily as it entered the white light into another world, somewhere nearer to home.

Planet Earth, present day.

_GRIEVER SHALL BE FREE_

_TO SALVAGE THE FREEDOM  
_

_OF ALL GUARDIAN FORCES_

_HUMANS SHALL DIE_

_WHEN THE LIBERI FATALI_

_GATHERS ONCE MORE_

_THE WORLD WILL BE SAVED_

_FROM THE BRINK OF DESTRUCTION_

Somewhere on planet Earth, within the walls of unused machinery, a figure stumbled into the midst of a destroyed lab, his feet crunching onto the debris, breaking it into pieces as though they were nothing. He looked around. The depths of the darkness did not frighten him, but actually gave him a bit of solace as he tried to find a safe spot to hide.

_Where the hell am I? What the hell is this place?_ The figure settled down beside a huge slab of stone, kicking away what seemed to be rotten roots from an overgrown thick bark of a tree in the middle of the lab. His face winced into that of agony as he slowly sat down, leaning back against the cool, rough texture of the slab. Looking down, he could see crimson blood flowing from one side of his body, staining his trench coat in dark reddish-brown patches. His chest throbbed with so much pain, he had difficulty trying to breathe without flinching from the wound.

The figure groaned, clutching at his wounded side as he quietly cast some healing spells. He felt the magic taking effect as his pain eased into a dull ache at the side. He held up his weapon grasped tightly in his right hand, watching the tainted blade edged in dried blood.

_Fuck…I hate them…_ Tired of even holding his weapon, he let go of his Gunblade, the weapon clinking loudly on the metallic floor, and he winced from the noise. He then got out a gleaming yellow spherical gem from inside his trench coat and looked around for a place to hide it. Finding one, he reluctantly got up amidst the pain and struggled to walk towards a small, burned dent at the bottom of the wall in front of him. Upon reaching it, he jammed the gem in the dent beneath the wall, and then he kicked some debris over to cover the place up.

_Argh…Damnit._ He collapsed onto the floor again, the pain shooting through him and made unbearable as he slowly stumbled back to the safe spot again. He sat back down and casted a stronger healing spell. The pain abated for a while, but still did not go away. He gave up on casting and sat against the stone slab, pondering over what had happened to him.

_Why…why do these crappy things keep happening to me? _He eyed his bloodied Hyperion lying a few feet away from him. From the entrance, he saw droplets of dark red trailing its way towards the centre and to his spot. The pain coursed through his body again, but he ignored it. He couldn't do much about the injury anyway- blame it on those monsters. He was no doctor, and the last Elixir had been used during the last battle for curing his friends.

His friends. His Posse. Fujin and Raijin. He wondered where they were now. Had they managed to survive? Only Hyne knew.

Quietly, gathering what little mental strength he had left, he tried to summon a GF. Diablos came into his mind, albeit a bit later than usual. The GF looked reluctant to answer him.

_Sire… _The GF finally spoke into his mind, unfolding its huge bat-like wings, revealing its demonic body. Thousands of black bats encircled about it, though they didn't made any noise at all.

"Go find…" The figure paused as he tried to think up of the Garden people he knew. He could only think of one person whom he could trust for that moment.

_But Sire… _Diablos interrupted. _It's dangerous to go out now… _

"You can talk into her mind, can't you?" asked the figure, a scowl on his face.

_But… _

"I don't care. You go tell her…" He made a mental picture of a young blond lady dressed in light orange. "…to find me here."

The GF nodded its devilish head slowly and said, _Yes, I will try, sire… _and the creature left his mind in a puff of flying bats. Then silence.

Exhausted from it all, the figure settled down for some sleep, pulling Hyperion close to him. He doubt those monsters will find him here, but it was better to be prepared, just in case. Casting another bout of healing spells, he closed his tired jade-green eyes to rest.

Until help arrives….

Yay...new chapter. And things are gonna be very interesting henceforth...


	11. Chapter 10: Return of the Posse

I am terribly sorry for the long delay, what with mountain-high college assignments and sleepless nights…sigh

But all that is over for now! Term break's begun, so I will have more time to write my ficcies - The style may have changed, but I'll try to keep to the original story as much as possible. nods

And I smell trouble a-brewing…the plot's grown deeper than I thought…

Anyway, on with the fic...

* * *

**Chapter 10: Return of the Posse**

_Library_ _Balamb Garden_ _2 hours and what seemed to take an eternity…_

"Five Spheres…Five Spheres…Five Spheres…" Quistis mumbled softly as she searched the shelf for the book that may contained the information they needed.

"I highly doubt that such a book existed, but…that's our only source of information, right?" Irvine asked, trying to make a light conversation with the blonde instructor. He heard Quistis mumbled somewhere between a yes and a whatever. Irvine went on to read the spines of some thick books that lay on the shelf below Quistis' shelf.

"_Guardian Forces for Dummies_…_Ten Best Spots to Hunt a GF_…_Using the Power of the Summons-Maximise Your Magic Output_…Hyne, so many boring books around…how can you people stand it?" asked Irvine. Quistis ignored him as she continued to search.

"Five Spheres…Five Spheres…could it be this one?" She got out a thick, red leather-bound book and blew the dust off that coated it. The book looked pretty old, with dog-eared corners and yellow, brittle pages, its spine falling apart at the edges. It had no front title, but as she opened it to the front, her eyes widened and she let out a soft cry, "Yes, this is it!"

"Eureka! Quistis finally found it!" Irvine cheered for her from beside the ladder where she stood.

"Silence, young man!" shushed the stern old woman that sat at a white table behind some shelves, a brass plate sitting on her table with the black words stating, "LIBRARIAN."

Irvine smiled apologetically at her and turned back to Quistis. "Look what happened."

"It's _your_ own fault, not mine," she said as she slowly climbed down the ladder. "Here." She handed him the book. "It's old, so take care while turning its pages."

Irvine took it and examined its contents. There were traces of dark brown blobs that looked suspiciously like dried blood on the front. He opened it gingerly to somewhere a page, and found untidy, scrawled handwritings filling up every corner a page could offer.

_Hmm…I wonder who dares to vandalise Garden's very own library books. Back at my old Garden, that crazy old librarian will shoot you right on the spot if she catches you doodling on a single page. _He turned to the front page of the book.

"_Legende of the Five Spheres and Forces of the Guardianes of Earth_," Irvine slowly figured out the faded title inscribed in an inky cursive writing in the front of the yellowed, brittle page. He looked at Quistis. "This old book has everything?"

"Do not judge a book by its cover," Quistis answered him, and started to drag him along by the arm. "Come on, let's go."

Suddenly the intercom buzzed. Everyone in the Library looked up from what they were doing as Nida's voice clearly rang, "Instructor Quistis Trepe, please go to the Headmaster's Office at once. I repeat…"

"Quistis?" Irvine asked. "What-"

"You take the book and bring it to them. I have to go see Headmaster Cid." She then turned and left him standing alone with a thick boring book in his hands.

"…at once. Thank you," Nida's voice finished just as Quistis left through the double glass door that was the library's entrance. Irvine looked at the book in his hand and looked up at Quistis' retreating back behind the closing glass doors before smacking his forehead alá Squall-style.

"Darn! I forgot that I don't have a Library Card!"

"Young man, one more sound from you and out you go," warned the old librarian once more. Irvine turned to the librarian and mouthed, "Sorry!" He looked about, and saw students quickly returning to what they were doing. Some other students turned away from him. Irvine sighed and went to the counter to try and get his Library Card done. The pig-tailed librarian who was in charged at the counter told him it would take him two days.

"Looks like I can't take this book then." He placed it back on one of the shelves. Remembering the place, he took one last look and left the library, muttering, "Should have asked Quistis earlier…"

From one side of the library, near a table that was joined to the walls, a young girl dressed in a blue shirt with a green scarf around her neck and white skirt got up and went over to the shelf where Irvine had placed the thick red book. She took it up slowly and examined its cover. Gingerly opening it, she walked back towards her usual spot by the window, and started leafing through it.

_

* * *

__Headmaster's Cid Office _

_Balamb Garden_

_10 minutes later_

A knock came at the door. The door opened, and Quistis strode into the Headmaster's Office, her boots thudding loudly in the quiet room. She saw the old headmaster waiting for her in the middle of the room with his back turned to her, hands crossed behind.

"Sir," she said and saluted. The Headmaster turned to her and said, "At ease, Quistis."

She brought down her hand and asked, "Sir, why do you wish to see me?"

There was a short pause as Headmaster Cid drew in a deep breath. "I believe you still remember your old student…Seifer, Almasy?"

"Yes…sir," Quistis replied quietly. How can anybody forget Seifer? _She _would definitely remember him. Seifer and Squall were always creating trouble ever since the day she knew them during their Orphanage days. The event of the duel that got them their trademark scars on their faces remained etched in her memory, she doubt she would ever forget it.

She wondered what had her former student got to do with her for now, though. She had not seen him since their last meeting at Lunatic Pandora. More nostalgic thoughts filled her mind. Quistis closed her eyes and sighed. She guessed that he might be still alive somewhere, and might return to Garden-

"I think Seifer has gotten into some…trouble," the headmaster's words broke into her train of thought. His voice sounded tired and she felt a slight hint of doubt in it, as though he did not believe that Seifer would get into any trouble, at all.

But that was where the irony ends, because Seifer _always_ got into trouble.

"But how do you know, sir?" she asked.

Just then someone rapped loudly on the door. A muffled masculine voice was heard.

"It must be them. Come in." The door swung open, and in strode two people whom Quistis instantly recognised.

Fujin, the quiet, white-haired girl in blue.

Raijin, the tall, imposing dark giant.

Fujin and Raijin. The Posse of Seifer.

Only Seifer was not there with them.

The door swung close behind them quietly and the two of them strode forward towards Quistis and Headmaster Cid. They were awfully quiet, not like their usual self whom Quistis remembered. Their faces were grave, and she could only think of one thing.

Something bad must have happened to Seifer.

Something _very _bad.

"Sir," the two of them saluted to Headmaster Cid.

"At ease," said the old headmaster.

"Hi, Instructor Trepe," said Raijin, waving at her. Fujin just nodded her head in acknowledgement. Quistis gave a small smile back at them.

"What brings you here to Balamb?" asked Quistis. "Where…is Seifer?"

"For that, they shall now explain. Raijin, please tell Instructor Quistis what you had told me earlier," said Headmaster Cid. Raijin nodded and proceeded to tell his story.

* * *

FLASHBACK BEGINS…

"_Oy! Look at what I found here!" Raijin shouted, waving his hand._

"_What did you find?" Seifer asked as he and Fujin walked towards where Raijin was. A few blocks of ruined walls met their sight. They had left the empty boat they'd stolen about an hour ago near the beach of this desolate island, which according to Raijin, had seen something 'long and shiny like a bronze dragon' flying in the sky towards here. They wondered how they were persuaded to join Raijin in his quest to find this unidentified flying object of his._

"_A pile of rubble from some old buildings." Seifer scoffed. "So?"_

"_ENTRANCE."_

"_What? You want to go in?" asked Seifer. Fujin stared at the broken stone gateway for a few moments before shaking her head._

"_DANGER."_

"_Aww, Fujin! There's no danger in this ruins, ya know!" said Raijin, walking back to his friends. "This place's literally deserted!"_

"_Look, it's bad enough we borrowed someone's boat without permission just because you saw a bronze dragon flying towards this place," said Seifer, pointing at the ruins. "I don't see a single freaking dragon around here."_

"_But I did, ya know!"_

_Fujin didn't say anything but just pointed to the middle of the ruins, where a small clearing was located. A faded bold brown circle was drawn around in it on the dead grass, and a five-pointed star could be roughly made out in the center of the circle. Dead, brown leaves were strewn everywhere though the nearest forest was a distance away, and the air felt dry as a cold wind blew. Above, dark clouds had gathered, and a rumble or two of thunder was heard, signaling that it was going to rain at any given moment._

"_Let's get this done and over with." Seifer walked into the clearing, with his posse following behind. "Look around you. There—is—no—dragon," said Seifer one more time. "There's nothing here!"_

_WRONG. A voice boomed. Raijin was so frightened that he immediately hid behind Fujin who looked at him. "IDIOT."_

_Seifer had brandished out his Hyperion, prepared to intercept anything, man or monster. "Who's there?"_

_Suddenly, a strong wind blew, and a bright, blinding thunderbolt struck the middle of the clearing. As thunder and breeze combined, a loud grating roar filled the air, and from above the clouds, a shaft of light shone through, and slithered within is a bronze serpent-like creature. It came to rest in the middle of the clearing, flapping its thin grayish-white wings and blinking its glowing white eyes. Soon, the clouds above closed again, the wind died down, and the sparks ceased. The dragon gave another roar as it watched them, eye to eye._

"_What a grand entrance," Seifer mocked as he readied his weapon for battle. Fujin and Raijin had brought out their weapons too, ready to aid Seifer. They halted when the dragon spoke in its deep voice._

_I come in peace. I do not wish to fight you, Almasy. _

"_The dragon SPEAKS!" said Raijin. Fujin whacked him hard on his arm. "Ow! But the dragon SPEAKS, ya know!"_

_Put away your weapons, all of you. There is no need for a confrontation. Looking at his posse and back at the dragon, Seifer slowly sheathed his Hyperion. Fujin and Raijin put away theirs, amidst the doubt of their safety._

_Good. Now listen to me. _

"_No, YOU listen to me," said Seifer with a snarl, pointing at the dragon. "I don't know how the hell you know me, and what the hell you want with me, but I don't want to get involved with you and your kind in whatever business you're doing."_

_Almasy, always the brilliant one. The dragon laughed, snorting smoke through its nostrils. You guessed that I came to ask you for a favor? _

"_You ALL enjoy asking me for favors. But do _I_ get one back? NO. So, get lost and leave me and my friends in peace-" _

_This is your destiny. You can't avoid it. _

"_DON'T TALK FUCKING CRAP TO ME ABOUT DESTINY!" Seifer grew enraged. "I've had enough with those fucking Sorceresses and now YOU dragons want-"_

"_SEIFER." Fujin had walked up to him and shook her head. "LISTEN."_

_That's right, Almasy, LISTEN. _

_Seifer went silent. "Fine…go on."_

_A group of people is hunting the GFs and us Banryus- _

"_Banryus?" asked Raijin._

_We are the dragon guardians of the Five Spheres. We guard each of our corresponding elements. I am the Lightning Banryu. The dragon bowed its head low._

"_I see. So?" asked Seifer, folding his arms. _

_The dragon resumed to its crouching position and looked upwards, anger flashing in its eyes. Lightning danced across the skies. Humans are hunting us for our Spheres. _

"_Let me guess. Those Spheres are powerful. So freaking powerful, some power-hungry idiot wants it."_

_Correct, Almasy. Each elemental sphere commands three GFs except the Light and Dark Sphere which commands four. And all the GFs' powers come from the spheres. One single sphere has enough power to destroy a city. Imagine five. _

"_Holy…" breathed Raijin. Fujin was too horrified at the outcome to comment._

"_And now, you want me to take care of your little Sphere so that it doesn't fall into the wrong hands," said Seifer._

_The dragon eyed Seifer and nodded. You're smart. So I don't have to say anymore. Do you wish to accept? _

_Seifer pondered over it for a few moments in silence._

"_No." _

_Fujin and Raijin were surprised by his answer._

"_C'mon, Seifer! The world will be doomed if you don't take the Sphere, ya know!" said Raijin._

"_AFFIRMATIVE," said Fujin. Seifer turned to both his friends, anger shown in his face. _

"_Do you know how many freaking responsibilities have I taken? All I want now is a quiet life. I've had enough with all of this! I don't give a damn what's going to happen."_

"_SEIFER. FINAL. AFFIRMATIVE." Seifer stared at Fujin. She looked straight at him, never breaking her gaze on him._

"_Ya, and after all this, we can all go back to our normal lives. End of story, ya know," said Raijin. "If you don't take it now, there wouldn't be anything to return to, ya know."_

_Raijin's last words made sense. Seifer kept quiet. He looked at his friends' determined faces, then back at the dragon. He sighed and finally said, "Fine…I accept. BUT this is the last."_

_A wise decision, Almasy. Now, you shall receive my Sphere. _

_The dragon suddenly started roaring, loud enough to shake the heavens above. A thunderbolt split the skies above, and as the dragon lifted itself upwards, it opened its huge jaws and coughed out a glowing, yellow spherical gem. It landed in the dragon's huge open claws. The skies above closed once more, and the faint rumbling of the thunder above resumed._

_Here…take this… The dragon's voice had become somewhat weaker. Just as it was about to hand the Sphere over to Seifer, the dragon suddenly froze. _

"_What?" Seifer asked. The dragon sniffed the air, and said, Something's coming. _

_At that, many giant red lobster-like creatures had come clambering into the clearing from everywhere, surrounding the dragon and the three humans. The monster crustaceans snapped their pincers loudly in the air, making the annoying clicking sounds. Their beady black eyes bored into their targets as they scuttled nearer towards the cornered group. Seifer and the rest quickly took out their weapons, and stood in a circle around the dragon, facing the enemies on three sides. _

_They were about fifty of these monsters, Seifer estimated from the cluster of monster crustaceans surrounding them. It was going to be a long fight. _

"_SEIFER!" Fujin called, aiming her Blaster Edge at the monsters._

"_What do we do now?" asked Raijin, swinging his thick rod about._

"_We FIGHT! FLARE!"_


End file.
